MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Summer 2020

27 FOUR IN ONE Tackling all the major Beaver Valley crags in a day, self-supported and car-free words & photos :: Will Tam On a Saturday in July last year, Dustin Johnston-Jewell and Elan Marko awoke at 3:00 a.m. The early wake-up call at a friend’s home in Kimberley was the beginning of what the two climbers dubbed “The Eager Beaver Challenge”—a possibly foolhardy scheme requiring each to climb all the sport routes (5.9+ and under) at the four major Beaver Valley crags, with no outside support, in less than 24 hours. Dustin and Elan cycled between Old Baldy, Metcalfe Rock, The Swamp and Devil’s Glen and then jogged to each cliff base, carrying all their equipment and supplies. Following multi-pitch rules, the first climber led while the second followed and cleaned the route on top-rope. Just after 4:00 a.m. the duo began jogging with headlamps from the Old Baldy parking lot (the start and finish line) to the cliff base. By 5:00 a.m. I showed up just in time to shoot their last route on Old Baldy. Then they ran back to the parking lot to load their bikes. By 6:15 a.m. Dustin and Elan arrived in the Metcalfe Rock parking lot and locked their bikes to the signage board. Of all the Beaver Valley crags, Metcalfe has the highest concentration of sub-5.10 climbs, so beating the weekend crowd was a priority. Despite both Dustin and Elan climbing regularly in the Beaver Valley, neither had CLIMBING Elan Marko on Snakelet (5.5), Metcalfe Rock